University has responded shootings at Virginia Tech University by hiring new officers, expanding crime prevention programs and adopting a text-messaging alert system.

By Grant Welker

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has responded to last spring’s shootings at Virginia Tech University and to pressure on schools nationwide to improve safety by hiring new officers, expanding crime prevention programs and adopting a text-messaging alert system.

Many of the significant steps to improve safety are yet to be finished. The university is working on an instant messaging system to allow campus officials to notify students, staff and faculty of an emergency, and an expanded and upgraded emergency call box system should be complete by the middle of the fall semester.

The university has added nine new police officers and two new security officers to its Department of Public Safety. The department now has 26 police officers, 10 security officers and four dispatchers. There are two reasons for the increase, said John Hoey, assistant to the chancellor: The university’s enrollment has increased over the years and requires more officers, and there is a renewed effort to ensure public safety.

“There is obviously a heightened awareness across the nation this year,” Hoey said. “It’s something we’ve always taken seriously, and it’s in the front of parents’ and students’ minds. We want to do the best job possible of making people feel safe and secure.”

Crime prevention programs are being expanded to include monthly presentations for both resident and commuter students, staff and faculty. Students learn about call boxes (there are 39 throughout campus), a whistle program for sexual assault defense, emergency assistance call numbers, and alcohol and drug education.

The university has also expanded transportation service, including a new 14-passenger shuttle bus for students who might not want to walk across campus alone or at night. The escort service has been available from 5:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., seven days a week.

The instant messaging warning program is part of a $250,000 statewide public higher education initiative funded in the fiscal 2008 Senate Committee on Ways and Means budget. The notification systems will be in place at all state and community colleges and all five UMass campuses. Campus officials would collect cell phone numbers voluntarily and text-message students, staff and faculty to alert them of an emergency.

Other universities throughout the country adopted the text-messaging alerts after the Virginia Tech shootings, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, Princeton University, the University of Colorado and University of Connecticut.

A state Board of Higher Education task force to prevent campus violence was also created to assess campus readiness for emergencies, find “root causes” of violence and make recommendations to the Legislature. It will comprise experts in higher education, public safety and mental health, and college presidents, faculty and students, according to the Senate Ways and Means fiscal 2008 executive summary.

In June, the board met with the executive offices of Public Safety, and Health and Human Services in the first-ever joint symposium on campus safety. More than 70 public and private colleges in the state attended.

There may also be a public address warning system at UMass Dartmouth with speakers strategically placed at locations throughout the 710-acre campus to alert people to an emergency. The campus, because it is contained in a single area, makes it easier to implement such a system, Hoey said.

Other changes include increased lighting, which will be installed this semester in parking lots and along walkways, and a new parking plan the university says will help regulate traffic, locate where a vehicle should be parked and track a vehicle’s owner.

“By any standard, our campus is a safe one, but the men and women of the UMass Dartmouth police force are dedicated to making our community safer every day,” said Emil Fioravanti, director of public safety, in a statement. “This year, we are taking a number of actions that will help us protect our community.”